Take action!

Join the National Vigil Project

The November Coalition and reform groups from around the
country hold regular drug war vigils to bring attention to
their loved ones in prison and the out-of-control growth of
the prison industrial complex. Get involved in public
education efforts nationwide.

Medical Marijuana Action:

Since September 11, 2001, the DEA
has increased its harrassment of California medical
marijuana patients and their providers. Please contact your
elected officials and ask them to refrain from this
targeting of the sick and dying and those who are helping
them.

Also, ask your representatives to
co-sponsor Rep. Barney Frank's bill, H.R. 2592,
which -- if passed -- would allow states to
determine their own medical marijuana policies without
federal interference. The bill is currently pending in the
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

Write letters to your newspapers,
and let the public know that medical marijuana patients are
not the enemy, and our precious law enforcement resources
should be used to protect the US from terrorism and violent
crime, not to go after patients.

Stand up for Human
Rights!

If you are a member of Amnesty International
USA, please let your regional office know that you
want them to take a stand on the human rights
violations committed in the name of the Drug War.
If you are not a member, consider joining and
getting active for this cause.Use the articles of
the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights described on this site for
background information. In April, 2002, Amnesty
International will conduct its annual conference.
Pressure now will encourage them to put it on the
agenda.

Repeal Mandatory Minimum
Sentences!

Rep. Maxine Waters has introduced a bill that
will effectively repeal mandatory minimum sentences
for low-level offenders. Ask your congressperson to
support her bill.

Find out what you can do to help end these harsh
and unjust sentences at:

Stop the DEA from banning legal hemp products!

In October, 2001, the DEA
unilaterally expanded it's definition of marijuana to
include all hempseed products for human consumption (legal
hempseed oil and foods). These products don't have any drug
effect, so this unwarrented intrusion beyond drug policy
into nutrition and personal hygiene areas, is dangerous to
your health and the Constitution.

3. Contact your elected officials at all levels of
government. Call or write them and tell them you want them
to work for legislation that respects human rights and
against unjust laws. Educate them on the issues. Hold them
accountable.

4. Work with local government, schools, community and
professional groups and organizations to effect changes in
policies and priorities.

6. Use your skills. Students can write papers, essays,
speeches, and do research on this topic. Writers, musicians,
artists, and actors can be especially creative in spreading
the message of tolerance and reform through various media.
Business owners can enforce a "no drug testing" policy in
their businesses. Attorneys can challenge the laws in court
and help defend victims of the Drug War, pro-bono.

7. Use the power of the ballot box to vote for change.
Run for office on a reform platform or help sympathetic
politicians get elected. Work on voter initiatives or
petitions.

8. Join or donate to a local or national group that
supports reforms. Volunteer to help out or organize events
that bring attention to these issues.

9. Become an Internet activist. Do more research, network
with people who have the same interests, and blast your
opinions to a wide audience. Link your web sites.

10. One powerful technique for bringing change is to
educate the population by broadcasting videotape programs
through the local cable companies public access program.
This is especially true in smaller communities where the
public access programs tend to be underutilized. A
particularly stirring tape is FRONTLINE's "Snitch",
available for purchase by individuals, schools, libraries
and other educational institutions through: PBS Video, PO
Box 791, Alexandria, VA 22313-0791. 1-800-328-7271. Copies
of "Snitch " are also available for purchase online through
ShopPBS. ReconsiDer, a Syracuse, NY-based drug policy reform
group, produces a weekly cable program that is also
available. Call 315-422-6231 for more information.

Whatever you do, start doing it now, before it's too
late.

Write a support letter to some
pot prisoners

Jim Tranmer # 17547-050
P.O. Box 5000
Pekin, Illinois 61555.

Jim is doing 35 years for conspiracy to smuggle Cannabis.
He never owned a gun or hurt anyone in his life. His son,
Brian was also incarcerated.

Brian is also doing 10 years Federal time. He was raised
in the Ethiopian Coptic Church in Jamaica. He is 33 and his
birthday is February 15.

Note: This seems to be the prison's recent dirty trick is
to change one little thing in the address and if the
prisoner doesn't get every jot and title to his
correspondents, he or she will not receive mail. So thanks
for helping us to keep records on our friends.

How You Can Help
Us

Help us bring this worthwhile exhibit to others. We
welcome your suggestions for installation sites for the
exhibit and appreciate any and all donations of time and
money to further the work of this important project.

Call talk show programs and talk about this issue, and
suggest that they invite one of our spokespersons onto their
shows.

A viewer wrote: "I would think that a video version of
'Human Rights & the Drug War: The Exhibit' would be a
particularly valuable addition to this exhibit. If it
exists, please let me know. If not, perhaps you would
consider making one?" Can anyone help us with this?

We also need help with putting together a CD rom,
tracking cases and much more. Email
or call Mikki at 510-215-8326 to find out more.

Know
your rights
if you are stopped ...

You do not have to answer any questions. This means you
don't have to SAY ANYTHING.

You do not have to let a police officer search your car
without a SEARCH WARRANT.

You may not be detained. If you feel you are being
detained ask if you are UNDER ARREST. If you are not under
arrest, ASK IF YOU ARE FREE TO GO.

If you are arrested, you must be read your MIRANDA
RIGHTS. If your rights are not read to you, you may be able
to get your case thrown out of court.

If you are arrested, you do not have to say anything. Ask
to call your lawyer immediately. If you do not have a
lawyer, ask that one be provided for you when you are
arraigned before a judge.

The military analogy opens the door for a truce to
negotiate a policy that recognizes the dignity of the
individual, respects the human rights of all peoples, and
protects the legitimate interests and concerns of society as
a whole. Drug War rhetoric dehumanizes drug users, which in
turn leads to brutality by law enforcement and the
persecution of selected cultural groups.

It is time to declare a truce in this Drug War in order
to seek a peaceful end to this long, futile and divisive
conflict. We call on the United Nations, the American people
and the US government to bring an end to the human rights
violations of the Drug War.

Network News will keep you updated on the latest
legislative and regulatory drug policy proposals in Congress
and the Administration.

To receive Network News and legislative Action Alerts,
sign up with DPF's Advocacy Network at: www.dpf.org/html/listform.
To sign off this list, send mail to: listproc@dpf.org with
the line "signoff dpnews" in the body of the message.

To support the Drug Policy Foundation's efforts to create
reasoned and compassionate drug policies, become a member
online at: www.dpf.org/html/join.

As a new free service offered by Popularis.com,
they will help you find out who your representatives are and
enable you to send a fax directly to their office. You can
quickly and easily:
· click on "send e-mail,"
· choose your representative,
· write your message or paste in yours,
· and click-to-send.